


Posy Rings

by grelleswife



Series: Kuroshitsuji Ladies Appreciation Week 2020 [3]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Rings, that's my headcanon for both of the girls at least!, the girls are very soft for each other!, they seem like very good friends ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24396013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grelleswife/pseuds/grelleswife
Summary: Following the young earl's untimely death, Sieglinde and Lizzy mourn his loss together, growing closer in the process. As time passes, their bond deepens beyond mere friendship.
Relationships: Elizabeth Midford/Sieglinde Sullivan
Series: Kuroshitsuji Ladies Appreciation Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758298
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Posy Rings

**Author's Note:**

> Posy rings, which first became popular in the Middle Ages, bear short poetic inscriptions (hence the name) engraved on the inside. Wearing the words against one's skin was believed to confer an added intimacy to the message. These rings were often exchanged between friends or lovers. I'm not certain how common the practice was in the Victorian era, but I couldn't resist including the rings in this fic.
> 
> However, the inscriptions on Lizzy's and Sieglinde's rings were inscribed on actual posy rings, according to the following source: http://wartski.com/posy-ring-messages/
> 
> If you'd like to learn more about posy rings, I've included links to the other articles I consulted below:
> 
> https://medievallondon.ace.fordham.edu/collections/show/93  
> https://www.tsbrown.com/pages/the-history-behind-poesy-rings

Tears glistened like diamonds on Lizzy’s cheeks as she wept by the fresh plot of earth where her fiancé’s remains now rested. Her somber funerary garments threatened to engulf her in darkness, shadowy petticoats swallowing up this girl made of gold and ivory. She barely registered when her brother put a hand on her shoulder in a futile attempt at comfort. Sieglinde’s heart ached with grief. She couldn’t bear to watch her precious friend cry like this. Tugging on Wolfram’s sleeve to get his attention (his own face was crumpled and tearstained), Sieglinde quietly told him in German to push her wheelchair over to the Midford family.

“Oh Linde…he’s gone, he’s really g-gone…”

“Lizzy…”

She held out her arms, and Lizzy fell into her embrace, sobbing against her shoulder until the fabric of Sieglinde’s dress was soaked through.

She knew no equation that could quantify Lizzy’s despair, nor the higher mathematics that might soothe her pain.

“I’m so sorry,” Sieglinde whispered. Not just words of condolence, but of apology, too. How could she forgive herself for not putting the pieces together sooner? Scientists were supposed to be the ultimate observers, but she had failed to perceive Sebastian Michaelis’s true nature. Duped by his servile smile, never noticing the fangs behind it. Only now, when it was too late, did she understand the real meaning of the devilish symbols inscribed on Ciel’s eye and Sebastian’s hand. Butler and master? Yes, but more than that—demon and prey.

The blonde raised her head to press her cheek against Sieglinde’s, and their tears mingled freely.

“Thank…thank you for being here. Y-you’re so sweet,” she choked out. In spite of everything, she mustered a faint smile, though it was a far cry from the sunny, cheerful laugh that Sieglinde loved.

“I’ll _always_ be here,” she promised, interlacing her fingers with her friend’s.

Ciel was beyond saving…but maybe she could still help Lizzy.

* * *

She didn’t know what to expect when Lizzy came to call. According to Bard (Wolfram remained on good terms with the former members of the Phantomhive household, who Marquess Alexis Midford had taken under his employ), Lizzy hadn’t ventured beyond the Midford estate that month. She hadn’t replied to any of the notes Sieglinde sent her, either. Sieglinde grew more worried by the day, and was ready to storm the gates of the Midford’s home when Lizzy’s letter arrived. She eagerly ripped it open, scanning the lines of elegant cursive. Lizzy was terribly sorry for not feeling well enough to write, but she’d love to see Sieglinde again soon. Maybe Lizzy could pay her a visit this Thursday afternoon? She knew how busy Sieglinde was with her experiments, but could she spare an hour or two?

Siegelinde had dashed off a reply at once. Of course she could! Some things took precedence over research, including her best friend.

Lizzy was quieter, more subdued. Washed out, like a painting left exposed to the harsh sunlight for too long. The two girls stuck to safe chitchat, careful to tiptoe around the bleeding edges of the gap Ciel left with his unforeseen departure.

When Sieglinde asked her, Lizzy said she was fine. “Considering…” The silence that followed was deafening. Sieglinde could only wonder what lurked in the gray unsaid. Sleepless nights? Hours spent looking out the window at nothing? Memories that pricked Lizzy when she least expected it, like a needle carelessly jabbed in one’s finger?

Sieglinde cleared her throat. “Um…would you to see some projects I’ve been working on?”

“Oh, yes!” Lizzy cried, putting her hands together. _I’m trying_ , her wobbly smile seemed to say. _I’m trying so hard_.

“Why don’t you get up here with me? My Arachne Patousa are strong enough for both of us!”

For ease of movement, Sieglinde was strapped into the trusty mechanical “spider’s legs” she’d built for herself, and she was confident they’d hold under Lizzy’s weight.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Nope! It’ll be fun! Just take my hand, and hop on up.”

Lizzy clasped her hand and jumped aboard, planting her feet on one of the metal legs and wrapping her arms around Sieglinde’s waist for support.

“Hang on tight,” Sieglinde said, and they clattered off to her laboratory.

“Whee!” Lizzy squealed, giggling with excitement—the first time she’d laughed since she crossed the threshold. The sound made Sieglinde feel lighter, light enough to float in midair like a witch communing with the spirits.

Once they’d arrived and Lizzy jumped down from her perch, Sieglinde launched into an explanation of what all the pieces of equipment were, the purpose of each experiment, where exactly all those glittering liquids in bottles had come from, and much more. She knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t stop herself. Anything to distract Lizzy from the oppressive sadness that weighed her down like Atlas’s burden.

“Oh! What about this one?” Lizzy piped up, pointing at a flat, rectangular grid comprised of a series of blue cells.

“That’s my latest invention. I call it a “solar panel.””

Lizzy tilted her head quizzically.

“So, um…what does it do, exactly?” She gave Sieglinde an apologetic look. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about these scientific things.”

“It’s okay! Most people don’t,” Sieglinde assured her. “And this device is so new that no one’s ever heard of it before. If I can get it to work properly, it’ll harness energy from the sun to make electricity.”

The light flickered back to life behind Lizzy’s eyes, transforming dull green to vivid, dazzling emerald.

“That’s genius! It sounds more like magic than science. I bet you’re cleverer than all the gentlemen of the Royal Society of London put together!”

Sieglinde’s cheeks burned. “W-well…”

“Honestly you are!” Lizzy’s face shone, and Sieglinde caught a glimpse of the bright spirit she remembered from happier times.

“You’re _incredible_ , Linde!”

* * *

But, by Sieglinde’s calculations, Lizzy was the one who was really incredible. Taking a quarter of an hour to cry silently while Sieglinde held her, only to dry her eyes with a hankie and don a fresh smile like a smart pair of shoes.

Taking Ciel’s mantle as the Queen’s Watchdog. Studying the arts of strategy and subterfuge under her mother’s tutelage so that, in due time, she would keep England’s underworld in check with flashing blade and lionhearted courage.

Those swords…Sieglinde sometimes watched Lizzy spar with her parents or brother, and almost envied the lithe, graceful legs on which she dashed and whirled with a speed that made her head spin. But soon she’d be lost in the beauty of it, the passion and pride with which Lizzy wielded her blades, the effortless pirouettes worthy of the Royal Ballet. Each time, Sieglinde became better acquainted with Lizzy’s fighting style, committing her friend’s techniques to memory like the elegant formulae that were essential to her research. Not that she could put this knowledge to use with feet that were mutilated beyond repair, but it was a stepping stone that brought her closer to Lizzy Midford. And she wanted to be closer to Lizzy.

When Lizzy shyly invited her to a fencing competition, Sieglinde jumped at the chance. She and Wolfram had exchanged concerned looks when they saw Lizzy’s opponent, a bulky, strapping young man at least two feet taller than she. They needn’t have worried. Lizzy trounced him in less than a minute. Her next competitor met a similar fate. Regardless of their skill, none could stand against her. Sieglinde cheered herself hoarse when Lizzy was declared the victor.

Lizzy strode up to them afterwards, taking off her helmet and shaking out her curls. She looked quietly satisfied, the same good kind of tired that Sieglinde felt after finally working out the solution to a problem in the lab.

“Did you like it?” she asked Sieglinde, her tone oddly urgent. “I wasn’t sure about my stance in the last round—”

Sieglinde gushed, “It was perfect! None of those silly boys stood a chance. You took them out just like _that_!” She pantomimed a dramatic sword thrust for emphasis.

Lizzy’s face broke into a relieved smile. Ever since Ciel’s death, shadows had lurked behind her eyes, but they receded now.

“With you watching, I _knew_ I’d win,” she blurted out.

* * *

“What is it?”

Lizzy shook her head mischievously. “A secret.”

“Lizzyyyy,” Sieglinde pouted.

“Okay, okay,” Lizzy tittered. She opened the black velvet pouch she’d been holding, revealing two gold rings.

“They’re called posy rings because they have a verse on the inside. One for each of us!”

“Oooo.” When Lizzy handed one to her, Sieglinde held the ring up to better examine it.

“ _Some love in earnest, some in jest, I love her that I like best_ ,” she read out.

“A-as a friend!” Lizzy added, blushing. “I thought it was cute. And this is what mine says.”

It took a moment for Sieglinde to puzzle through the intricate script before deciphering the phrase, _The Love of thee is life to me_.

“It’s very pretty,” Sieglinde chirped as she slipped the ring over her left thumb, flashing Lizzy a grateful smile.

Lizzy put hers on the same finger. It glinted in the afternoon sun.

“Now we’re matching, so everyone who sees us together will know we’re friends!”

Even scientists rely on intuition now and then. Sieglinde had a hunch the rings meant more, but she tucked that thought away to ruminate on later. For now, she pressed her left palm against Lizzy’s, laughing at the happy little clink their golden bands made against each other.

* * *

At first, when the grief was still raw, Lizzy rarely spoke of Ciel. As the weeks went by, however, everything reminded her of him. While shopping for hats and dresses one day, she and Sieglinde passed by the Funtom store’s display window. One stray glance at a Bitter Rabbit, dapper in his eyepatch and suit, and Lizzy had burst out sobbing. Sieglinde patted her hand, ignoring rude stares from grownups. And she couldn’t bring herself to eat chocolate cake again. “I think about _him_ , and it chokes me,” she told Sieglinde.

Ciel was their common denominator. Lizzy and Sieglinde shared their memories of the broken yet extraordinary boy who’d left an indelible mark on both their lives. They would never have crossed paths if not for him…but, without him, they’d have to clear the trail ahead together. Thus, the girls made new memories that were completely their own. Sieglinde joined Lizzy and her friends for tea parties. They got caught in the rain and had to share Lizzy’s parasol (and cover themselves with Wolf’s coat for good measure) during a stroll on the grounds of the Midford estate. Lizzy taught Sieglinde the pretty English folk melodies and popular tunes she’d learned from Paula, and Sieglinde shared village songs from her childhood as the Green Witch of Wolfsschlucht.

And there was the sleepover. Lizzy begged her mother to let Sieglinde spend the night at their house, and Frances Midford finally relented, though she admonished her daughter that she’d have to spend extra hours on Watchdog training the next day. Sieglinde was ecstatic. This was her first time attending a proper sleepover!

Lizzy took the helm at Sieglinde’s wheelchair and raced them down the hallway, both girls shrieking like wild Amazons. Lady Midford shook her head and sighed, but Sieglinde noticed a warmth in her eyes.

They played draughts and snakes and ladders, gossiped for hours on end, and even snuck into the stables to see a litter of kittens that the black Phantomhive cat (who the Midfords had taken in along with the servants) had given birth to earlier that morning.

“They’re the cutest things!” Lizzy exclaimed. “Don’t you think they’re adorable, Linde?”

However, Sieglinde found herself studying the joyful girl in emerald green—Lizzy wore less pink these days—and thinking that her friend carried enough light within her to make all of England shine. Her solar panels were laughably inadequate by comparison.

Sieglinde slept in Lizzy’s bed that night. She rested her head on the pillow and smiled at her friend, who lay on her side facing Sieglinde. A few tendrils of hair had fallen across Lizzy’s face, like gold-spun silk, and Sieglinde brushed them out of the way before placing her hand on her cheek. Taxonomy failed her; what she felt at that moment defied classification. She was drawn toward Lizzy with the inexorability of a magnetic pole seeking its opposite. Sieglinde couldn’t resist Lizzy’s pull, and she snuggled closer when the girl’s arms encircled her.

“I’m so glad Mother let you stay,” Lizzy whispered. “But I wish we could see each other more often. After all, you’re my best friend!”

Sieglinde blinked rapidly, too startled to reply at first. “Really? You haven’t known me as long as your other friends…”

“You _understand_ me, Linde. They’ll spend all their days in the light, but we’ve walked among the shadows, haven’t we?”

Sieglinde knew what she meant. Lizzy seen horrors at Ciel’s side, even slicing her way through a shipful of undead abominations to keep him safe. As the new Watchdog, she’d traverse England’s dark underbelly with sword in hand, matching wits with the Villainous Nobles and facing danger and treachery at every turn. Although Sieglinde wished to use her science to help people, her gifts had been exploited to create SuLIN, the deadliest poison gas known to man. Ciel had occasionally consulted her expertise for his criminal investigations; Lizzy did likewise. Both girls had witnessed the world’s cruelty and wonders firsthand.

Lizzy’s expression turned solemn. “But…but you don’t think I’m a monster, do you? I’ll have to do terrible things…”

“No! You’re a wonderful person,” Sieglinde insisted. It horrified her that Lizzy would view herself that way.

“Oh, good,” Lizzy sighed in relief.

After a pause, she added, “I’m not sure what I’d do without you, you know. You’re special to me.”

Sieglinde wanted to laugh and cry at once, and realized that she could easily kiss Lizzy if she wanted to. She settled for pressing their foreheads together. Certain processes, from the shifting of Earth’s continents to the evolution of species (if Mr. Darwin was to be believed) couldn’t be rushed, and people were much the same way.

“You’re special to me too, Lizzy.”

* * *

“Are these for me?”

Sieglinde blushed and glanced down at the bouquet of violets in her hands.

“Uh…um…Wolf spotted these specimens growing just outside the door, and, um…I thought I’d share them with you when you visited.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Lizzy beamed, accepting the flowers and bringing them to her nose to inhale their sweet scent.

Gold and ivory, sugar and spice, steel and shadow…those were the things this beautiful girl was made of. She deserved Promethean lightning presented in a bottle, but Sieglinde could only offer her a handful of flowers.

“I love them.” Lizzy bent down and pressed her lips to Sieglinde’s.

Like light, Lizzy was both particle and wave. Everywhere—surrounding Sieglinde on all sides, her presence saturating the room—yet only existing at the single discrete point where that dainty pink mouth met hers.

She tasted of vanilla. Subtle and sublime.

* * *

“Have your parents said anything about…about finding a-a new betrothed?”

The words stuck like thorns in Sieglinde’s throat.

“I don’t want another fiancé.”

Lizzy sat with her head on Sieglinde’s shoulder while they conversed on the sofa.

“I know he’ll never be Ciel—”

Lizzy jerked away and glared at her.

“That’s not the _point_ , Linde! You know better!”

“I…”

“I want _you_ , you silly thing! Only you. Didn’t you say you’d always be here for me? You _promised_.”

Sieglinde balled up her hands in her lap until nails bit into skin.

“But you’re the Watchdog. I can’t interfere with that.” Her voice broke. Sieglinde’s mind was adept at unraveling nature’s mysteries, but she floundered when confronted with the changes taking place in her own heart.

Lizzy clasped her hands. “Every Watchdog needs a partner. Besides, I…y-you…” The blonde sniffled, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re more than a friend to me, Linde. I…I think I love you.”

Everything suddenly made sense, all variables solved for. After Ciel’s arrival in Wolfsschlucht, Sieglinde had learned that there was no such thing as magic, but now she had her doubts. What else could make her soul shimmer at those three words from Lizzy’s mouth?

This time, it was Sieglinde’s turn to bestow a kiss.

“ _Ich liebe dich_ , Lizzy.”

Lizzy’s face was radiant as a seraph’s, and her joy revived Sieglinde like the sun nurturing a leaf’s verdant green. “You mean it? Really and truly?”

Sieglinde grinned from ear to ear. She felt like leaping from the sofa from sheer elation, if her legs would have permitted it.

“Like you said, I promised.” She raised their intertwined hands and shyly kissed Lizzy’s knuckles. “Always.”

* * *

_Seven years later_

It was half past eleven, but Sieglinde was still scribbling away in her lab notebook while strapped into her Arachnae Patousa. She finally had this experiment going the way she’d wanted after several false starts, and she needed to forge ahead while chance favored her.

A sharp rap sounded at the door.

“ _Don’t stay up for me, Wolf, you should go on to bed_ ,” Sieglinde replied in German, casually glancing over her shoulder as she heard a creak.

“ _I can’t go to bed just yet; I’m on the Queen’s business_ ,” her weary but triumphant lover grinned from the doorway, speaking in the same language.

“Lizzy!” Sieglinde cried, clattering over and leaning down to embrace her. “What happened, _Schatzi_?”

Lizzy’s petticoats were stained with mud, her hair was strewn about her shoulders in a state of complete dishevelment, and she sported a cut across her right cheek that definitely hadn’t been there the day before. A sheathed sword hung at her side; Sieglinde assumed she’d put it to good use this night.

Lizzy shook her head ruefully. “These rival drug lords opposing Lau are getting bolder. I had a run-in with a few of their henchman during an investigation.” Her gaze turned sharp and ruthless. “So much the worse for them.”

Sieglinde thought she’d burst with pride. Lizzy was already being lauded as the greatest Watchdog since Claudia Phantomhive, though, in private, Sieglinde often worried herself sick about her safety.

“And I brought a little treat for you,” Lizzy winked, reaching into her bodice to pull out two small vials. “You know how the Qing Bang’s rivals developed a new drug several times more potent than the opium currently on the black market? I found these on one of the men who attacked me, but we still haven’t figured out where it was manufactured.”

“You want me to analyze it for clues,” Sieglinde concluded, fingers already twitching eagerly at the chance to examine this finding for herself.

“I’m sorry to barge in so late, and I know it’ll probably take a few days regardless, but time is of the essence. And, well…I knew you’d be excited,” Lizzy said, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“Am I ever!” Sieglinde enthused. “I’ve been dying to get ahold of these ‘Angel’s Tears’ since you first told me about them. _Danke, Vielen Dank_.”

She bent down to kiss Lizzy’s forehead.

“But I think I need to get you some salve for that cut first.”

Despite Lizzy’s protestations that she was perfectly fine, Sieglinde led her to the medical area she’d set up in an adjoining room. Myriad hazards confronted the Queen’s Watchdog, and Sieglinde needed to be prepared to lend her aid at a moment’s notice. Lizzy laid her left hand over hers, and she heard the comforting clink of their posy rings. Twin hoops of gold, as strong and shining as the bond that tied their hearts together.

**Author's Note:**

> Violets are often associated with romantic love between women. This symbolism dates from the time of the Greek poet Sappho; for example, a fragment from her poem "I Have Not Had One Word From Her" describes "all the violet tiaras" one of her female lovers wore. Their inclusion here is not coincidental.
> 
> Schatzi (German): little treasure


End file.
